Question: Is it OK to criticize Taker? Answer: Sure -- who says it's not?

The main reason I've decided to write a piece on this is due to the things I've seen on the 'net regarding the criticizing of the Taker and people's reactions to it. This might get rambling, so reader beware.

First of all, it seems for most of the UT fanbase that the golden rule is not to criticize or goof on anything this man does. From the Ministry of Darkness disaster to his goofy snakeskin pants, everything's A-OK. A lot like to imply that if you're a fan, you don't criticize the guy you're a fan of. And get ready for the arguing when you do.

A prime example where I've seen the backlash displayed was in UT.net messageboards once. I go there once in a blue moon, mainly because any more than that I feel the need to disinfect. It's not my bag but for any of you regular ut.net-ers, I do have the right to have that opinion of the place. Anyhow, there was a poster that had some negative comments about Taker. Most weren't the best thought out, but he or she at least had the guts to post what they felt. The one post that really soured me was a reply to the original post essentially saying that just because he or she was critical of Taker that they didn't need to be a fan of his.

This way of thinking I find fault in. Why shouldn't a fan be critical of the wrestlers they like? Why can't a fan have a negative opinion to a certain angle or certain character direction of said wrestler? In my opinion, I think that there is no reason not to be critical at times regarding Taker. As long as you have a logical reasoning for your dislike and can back it up, why not? It doesn't make you less of a fan. All anyone needs is one look around this site to see that or even my other wrestling site, for that matter. I'm critical of all my favorites and even pro wrestling. But that doesn't make me any less of a fan. I have openly criticized Taker numerous times, but I still have the utmost respect for the man. How can you not?

Another aspect of the critcizing is the teasing of Taker that some like to take part in. I know I do my fair share of it. And a prime place to see this in action is Men in Pink and Black. This is my favorite wrestling site of them all. Why, you may ask? Because they've acheived that fine balance of showing respect all the while poking fun at the very business and workers they love. The reason I added MIPB in here was because that site even caused a backlash on ut.net. Reason -- a certain report of UT's signing in Exton, PA from 1999. Many were up in arms over how UT's appearance was criticized from the roots to the gut to the fans who go to UT signings. And why -- it's obvious the man doesn't do upkeep on his hair and he does have a gut and the man's had his fair share of gothic-looking folks show up at signings. It's not a big deal or one of the best-kept secrets in wrestling. The cute part of all this was everyone started to become so sickengly defensive without even really trying to understand what the site was all about. It was another case of that knee-jerk reaction when someone paints a picture of UT in something other than gold paint. If they were to read further into the piece, they would have seen how thrilled the woman who met UT was. And I also think some of the backlash was jealously related. Some "fans" try to bribe Taker to give them more than a "Hello- how are you doing?" by bringing him gifts. And it probably pissed those fans off to no end that all she brought was a picture of her bike for him to sign.

Even with good criticism, I do feel there is some uncalled for. And now that I've tackled the fan base, let me expand to the internet wrestling boards and rumor mills: a prime source for this kind. And there's even some of that out there that I do get angry seeing but I do respect their opinion but only if it's well-thought out. Mere statements don't make for good arguments.

About 99% of the "newsboards" out there are run by 13-year-olds with their parents' credit card. There are only about 6 or 7, if that, places that folks consider legit. And I know I'm not going to go on the defensive when some 13-year-old who I would bet hasn't watched wrestling more than a couple years does a not well thought out criticism of Taker. He's just a kid who thinks he's a hot shot and follows the trends in wrestling. And, personally, I could care less about what he or she says. If you only jumped on because of the Rock or Austin well - your opinion doesn't really matter to me unless you've tried to educate yourself on the true spirit of the business.

However, If you dare to cross the line between criticism and go full out in the mean spirited shots and call the Taker a no-talent, piece-of-shit has-been, congratulations - you have summoned a big ol' can of verbal whoopass on yourself. And with it pretty much being open-season on him from some of the more seasoned columnists due to the fact that he has lost a step or two. Yes, Taker started out pretty slow and was hampered by a couple more injuries, but I feel that he's made progress by the end of 2000. He might not be doing planchas anymore but he can still carry on a pretty good match which he's proved throughout his return. And I think the worst I've seen was done by Scott Keith, who really ripped into Taker and even went as far as to call him Kevin Nash because of him not jobbing to Kurt Angle at one of the summer PPVs. Now those kind of things really get me because they're knee-jerk reactions. And of course, many of these established folks are only marks for ECW, Puroeseau (sp?), or the technical wrestlers, which makes them more critical on those who fall outside those lines.

How dare they forget everything he's done for the WWF? How dare they forget how many times he's been jobbed out and was willing to put people over? How dare they forget that he was pretty much helping to keep the WWF afloat when things were bad and many of his veteran colleagues were jumping ship to WCW? How dare they forget the old-school respect and love he has for professional wrestling? And they forget all this when they call for his head on a stick just because he's not flying around luchadore style anymore. Even when he's not 100%, he's still better than many, mainly because he puts that much extra heart into it. And to call him a has-been or worse is just disrespectful to him, to the fans, and to the business.

Now for the summary of all this rambling. Even if you are a fan, it's OK to be critical at times if there's something going on that you don't like. But make sure you have some intelligent framework to back it up. Actually, it can be good to be critical or make light of certain aspects of wrestling or wrestlers. However, I don't appreciate seeing things that are due to knee-jerk reaction or are said just to hop on the bandwagon. And cross the line from criticism and get intentionally mean-spirited with what you say about Taker, and be prepared to face backlash from the man himself, the fans, and the business you've just insulted.

 

 

Date Written: (12-28-00)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

&nbs